Electronic documents (EDs) are commonly used for storing and disseminating information. This information may include sensitive data items such as, for example, social security numbers, credit card information, income information, or any type of confidential information, etc. EDs may be defined using a document markup language to provide features such as complex formatting, document comments, tracking of changes, etc. The document markup language may include multiple instances of the sensitive data items.
An ED may be distributed to many users. Some users might be authorized to view the sensitive data items. Some users might not be authorized to view the sensitive data items. Accordingly, it may be necessary to encrypt the sensitive data items. However, encrypting the displayed instances of a sensitive data item in the ED might not encrypt all instances (e.g., non-displayed instances or non-printed instances) of the sensitive data item found within the markup of the ED. An unauthorized user might still be able to view the sensitive data items by accessing the markup of the document. Accordingly, encryption of all instances of the sensitive data items in the ED is desirable. It is also desirable to maintain the overall layout of the ED even when the user is not authorized to view the sensitive data items.